


The Ones Who Destroyed

by GardenGoblin



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Elves, F/M, Fantasy, Grief/Mourning, I wrote this forever ago and i just revamped it so im posting it, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Simon is basically leo valdez tbh, creative writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 04:11:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18886924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GardenGoblin/pseuds/GardenGoblin
Summary: "Gather round children, as I tell you the tale of how I died."





	The Ones Who Destroyed

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a project for creative writing forever ago and I just revamped it so now I'm posting it!

Gather round children, as I tell you the tale of how I died.

I was once a young boy with dreams of valor and love, of peace and bravery, of courage and strength, until my village was attacked. This was not the day my body died however, but instead it was my innocence. I was one of the few to survive, climbing out of the smoldering carnage into a new world, a world of blood, a world of fear, a world of death. I was no longer a boy with dreams and safety, but of harshness and steel. It felt as though all emotion had left me as I stared at my parent’s corpses. I searched for survivors but found none but three, all children, all hardened by hardship. We left our village, vowing to avenge those who were slaughtered. 

My companions were two girls and a boy. The first girl would later be my love, the one who would break down all my walls and spill my heart onto the floor. Her name was Crystal, and she was as brave and as kind a soul as you would ever meet, with flowing brown hair and ample strength. She could fill a room with warmth and kindness the minuet she walked in and held starlight in her smile.

The second girl was to be our rock. Her name was Grace and her eyes were as deep as her wisdom, her hands as skilled as a master carver, and cropped blond hair the color of the sun. She had been directly in the path of the destruction that left us to rot, and it showed in the way she spoke, in the way that she moved. 

The boy was to be the joker, hiding his pain behind laughter and mirth. His name was Simon and he loved all, men and women, fairy or mer, he didn’t care. His smile eventually caught the eye of an elf, and so our party grew, and their love was one of few bright spots in the dark abyss lit with our torches of vengeance we called life.

The Elf’s name was Leaf, and he loved Simon with the power of a thousand summers. He was tall and lean, with shining blond hair to contrast Simon’s brown. They were opposites in the best way. He was a crack of lightning in the middle of a summer storm, quick, flashy, and powerful, while Simon was a bumble bee in the spring, always a steady buzz of support wherever he went and spreading the pollen of his joy across the land but hiding a terrible sting behind his smile. 

As for me, my name was James, and I was the unofficial leader and protector of the group. While Crystal could cast spells of shielding and bounty, Simon inspired hope in others as well as fear into his enemies, both Grace and Leaf were blessed by nature to hold its power, and I was skilled with the sword. I suppose this is why we lived, chosen by the gods to avenge our ancestors in the most tragically poetic way possible.

We searched the land, training and growing as a band of children into grown warriors of old. Many a time we battled for our lives against ogres, black knights, and other darkened beasts, but each time we surfaced victorious. We received gifts of glory by those we saved, and curses by those we beat back into the darkness. Eventually, our following grew as we became heroes of the land, but this mattered not, as we still had not found Those Who Destroyed Us, so we employed spies, men and women who thrived on the thrill of the hunt for precious secrets and tidbits of information. Eventually information came to us, the man who supplied it was one of our most trusted, his grandmother died at the hand of the same men who decimated my people, he said Those Who Ruined Us resided to the west, leaving chaos and fire in their wake. 

We set out the next day, by this time in our lives we had all grown to adulthood. Crystal and Grace beautiful in equal measure, although Crystal was the only one that I could see. Simon had grown tall and strong, contrary to his joking nature. Leaf had not changed since the day we met him, but that did not matter, we all know elves do not age as we humans do, and we all knew that when our quest was complete, Simon would go back with Leaf to wherever he came from.

We traveled many weeks, occasionally slaying a monster or catching a thief, but our goal remained fresh in our minds, vengeance.

After a month of traveling, we came upon the smoldering ruins of a village, memories flashed before my eyes as I took in the smell of charred flesh and burning wood. How many had died there? Did any, like us, survive? These are thoughts I often ponder. We searched the village but did not find a living soul. I held a charred bone in my fist and cursed the gods, cursed all the evil in the world, cursed myself for not getting there sooner. We left that place with a renewed sense of purpose; we would not only avenge our people, but all those who fell before the destruction. 

I knew we were close to the end of our journey, the increasing amount of destruction told us that much, but there was something I had to do before charging into battle. The night before we set out to march the final stretch towards victory or doom, Crystal and I were wed. 

That night was a joyous affair, with dancing and vows that would have brought tears to the eyes of the meanest shrew or the cruelest ruler, but the happiness of us all was overlaid by dread. Before the ceremony, I had been contacted about Those Who Destroyed. They were few, but they were strong. I was told their leader’s name was Matson, I had heard of him before, he was and evil and powerful man who’s magic was deadly and cruel, but if we killed him, the destruction would end.

So we all set out, me, my new bride, Grace, Simon, Leaf, and a small group of followers who had their own reasons for want of revenge. After about an hour of marching, we saw columns of smoke rising in the distance. After another hour, we all knew we were close. I stopped us and gave a speech. I don’t remember what I said, but I do remember those determined faces, those faces that had seen horror, love, tears, death, were staring up at me, filling me with their hopes and trust. I told them they may die, I told them we may lose, and I told them that we would not leave until Matson was dead.

I still remember the blue of a cobblers eyes, the curl of a butcher’s daughter’s hair, the mangy fur of a loyal dog at the side of his master. I remember all of these things, but I do not remember their names, I do not remember how they died, I do not remember the moment Matson and his men flew into the camp and set fire to everything.   
I do remember what happened after, although every day I wish I did not. Warriors dispersed throughout the camp, killing everyone they came close to. Those blessed by creation sent waves of magic through them, killing some, but not nearly enough. I am ashamed to say I felt nothing for them, I only felt the need to slice my sword along that rat Matson’s throat. I ran at him, screaming curses all the way, telling him how he killed everything I had, and how now I would do the same to him, my rage boiling over with no regards for my surroundings. 

He looked so calm. He heard my words, but he looked so calm. There I was, a sword in my grip, running at him to show him just how much I hated him, but he just stretched out his hand, and killed me. I felt a second of searing pain, and then nothing, just, void. Then I heard the screaming, the screaming of someone who had truly lost everything they lived for, who had lost their one true happiness, their light, in a world of pure darkness. Crystal, my newlywed wife was now a widow. I somehow came out of the dark, only now I knew I was no longer alive. I saw my body, blood seeping out of all my pours, my torso mangled, a light smoke coming up from my eyes, and Crystal, throughout all the chaos, weeping over my corpse. I saw the change in her as Matson approached, seemingly taunting her of her weakness and inability to save me. As he walked towards her, I think he noticed the change as well. She radiated rage, a red aura flickering over her; hell hath no fury like a woman scorned as they say.

I saw the beginnings of fear in Matson’s eyes as my beloved turned to face him. Gone was the sweetness that I knew, the kindness and the warmth that had shone through her, now only vengeance and rage gripped her heart. Flames licked at him as Crystal’s body burst into flames, an aura of pure death encircling my love. She screamed and ran at him; it seemed fate had decided; his killer would not be me as I had foolishly thought. Power, pure, white, and hot flowed out of her as I watched from the air. I knew I could do nothing to help either Crystal or Matson as I watched her reach out, moving quicker than a hummingbird’s wings, and grab the face of Matson, who was seemingly shocked by her sudden transformation, I watched as his flesh melted off his bones and his soul turned to ash. He was dead, and our families avenged, but still Crystal would not, could not, stop. She decimated all his men, every one of them in one single burst of power, not a single soul was spared from her decimation. 

Only the words of Grace could lessen her rage, and even then, she was different, her chocolate curls now orange as flame, her dark skin now pale as cooled ash, and her eyes, her eyes were as hard and cold as ice, gone was the starlight twinkle of a broken child, now only emptiness and grief were contained there. My party, my friends, my family, took my body and buried it there where I fell, but my soul stayed, and with no common purpose uniting them, my family slowly split up. Simon returned with Leaf, who had lost an arm during the battle, to wherever he came from, it is said they rule over a forest to the west, the one-armed prince and his now quiet knight. Grace and Crystal moved north towards the mountains to try and start anew, I believe they had a small farm from what I have been told, maybe Grace eventually brought warmth back into my beloved’s eyes, but I will never know. And I children, I stayed. I never left this space, I don’t know what would happen if I tried. What you now see as a sprawling meadow was once a battlefield, my bones lie beneath you even now, though surly cleaned by the worms after all these years. I cannot pass on as my love must have surly done by now, I stay here, rapped by forces beyond my control, so I tell our story, making sure we are not forgotten, and in return, travelers tell me stories of their lives, be it how they ended up sitting where you all sit now, or of their breakfast. So children, do you have any stories for me?

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment if you liked this! I would super love some feedback!


End file.
